Russian oligarch elected head of pro-Medvedev party (Reuters)

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team, was elected leader of Russia's Right Cause party on Saturday and vowed to overtake the Communists as the No. 2 political party.

Metals tycoon Prokhorov's leadership of the pro-business party, which supports a second term for President Dmitry Medvedev in 2012, marks the first appearance of a powerful businessman on Russia's political scene in almost a decade.

After oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested and stripped of his fortune in 2003, under the presidency of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin who is widely expected to run for president again next year, business leaders have followed an unspoken rule to maintain their distance from politics.

During his acceptance speech before more than 170 party members in Moscow on Saturday, Prokhorov criticized Russia's one-party rule while maintaining that Right Cause is not an "opposition" party.

"Our country is called the Russian Federation, but by structure it is an empire. Only presidential power works here, and this kind of governance cannot provide stability let alone development," he said, promising to steer Right Cause into the parliament during elections later this year.

"We need to take back parliament. In the near future, become the second largest party, and then later, the first," he said.

Prokhorov, who has good relations with the Kremlin and whose net worth Forbes estimates at $18 billion, also said he would like to exclude the word "opposition" from the party's lexicon.

"Our citizens associate the word opposition with marginal groups that have long lost touch with reality, not with political parties," he said.

Putin's ruling United Russia party holds 315 of the 450 seats in the Duma, the lower house of parliament. Right Cause was formed two years ago and has no seats in parliament.

Prokhorov earned a fortune from selling a one-quarter stake in mining firm Norilsk Nickel just before the 2008 financial crisis.

He has a 17 percent stake in the world's largest aluminum producer RUSAL and a 30 percent stake in Russia's top gold miner, Polyus Gold.

(Writing by Jessica Bachman; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

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Youth from Egypt's Brotherhood form separate party (AP)

CAIRO – Several young members from Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood have launched their own political party to rival their group's own_ a move that is exposing cracks in the influential Islamist organization.

Banned from politics for half a century, the Brotherhood nonetheless maintained an effective organization based on a network of social services, successfully running candidates as independents in past parliamentary elections.

Now that a popular revolution has deposed President Hosni Mubarak and removed restrictions, the Brotherhood was expected to jump in, use its organization and experience to gain votes and possibly even dominate a new parliament.

The movement faces new challenges. The openness in Egypt is taking its toll on the venerable Islamist group, with younger, more pragmatic activists chafing under the doctrinaire leadership of the old guard.

The Brotherhood's political party is called Freedom and Justice, required under the new regulations to admit women and Christians but guided by the group's Islamic ideology. The Brotherhood is worried enough to threaten to expel members who join competing parties and threw out a leading member who decided to run for president on his own.

Other Islamist groups have also announced plans to register new political parties_ including some from the ultraconservative Salafi brand of Islam, which was previously averse to participating in political life.

Attention is going to Brotherhood members who have broken away and formed their own parties, like Egyptian Trend.

"This is not a Brotherhood party or a party of the Brotherhood youth," said Islam Lotfy, a Brotherhood member and a founding member of the new party.

The Brotherhood leadership said the decision of Lotfy, and as many as 20 others from the group will be penalized, because their actions violate a ban on its members to join any other by the newly formed Freedom and Justice Party.

"They will be referred to internal investigation and will be expelled if they don't quit " the new party, said Mahmoud Hussein, Secretary general of the Brotherhood. "They will have different loyalty."

Lotfy sees no contradiction between being a member in the Brotherhood as an advocacy group and joining a new political party.

"I have set my priorities. Working with the (Egyptian Trend) party is a choice and a priority," he said.

Lotfy was active in a youth coalition that formed during the early days of revolution that began on Jan. 25 and forced Mubarak to step down 18 days later.

He said the new party wants to capture the experience he gained during those tumultuous days working with other political groups and activists who espouse different ideologies.

"We have an extended experience from working with the January 25 group toward specific goals. We were able to put our ideological differences aside," he said. "We want a new party that overcomes politics."

This is a veiled criticism of his original organization, which formally joined the protests days after they began. Younger members are growing critical of the decision making process in the Brotherhood, controlled by a senior leadership, which is extending its reach to its Freedom and Justice party.

Lotfy said his new party is not an "Islamic" party, but one that devises its own programs and priorities from the public, which he called the mainstream. Its members are from different ideological backgrounds, including leftists, and liberals who aim to drastically improve Egypt's social indicators and international standing by 2030.

"We believe that the audience we are targeting no one has reached out to yet," he said. "I have gained a lot of experience from the Brotherhood which is known for its great ability to organize.. I hope I can gain from that, and this would be reflected in our performance."

Brotherhood leaders say the party will run for only half of the parliament's seats in elections expected in September, and they are working to form coalitions with other parties, including liberals.

The Brotherhood's party still appears as the most formidable contender for the upcoming elections. Some liberal and secular parties are so concerned that they have called for delaying the election to allow more time for them to organize and campaign.

Another leading member of the Brotherhood had earlier announced his plans to run for the upcoming presidential elections, in violating of the Brotherhood's decision not to field candidates. Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fottouh, a leading member of the Brotherhood known for his moderate views and appeal among the youth, was expelled on Saturday for violating the group's rules.

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Party bosses battle over Weiner scandal

TMZ reports this photo of Rep. Anthony Weiner was taken in the House members' gym.NEW: Anthony Weiner's office declines to comment on the photos published by TMZ TMZ publishes pictures Weiner apparently took of himself in the House gym Republican Party chief accuses Pelosi of having wanted to save Weiner's jobWasserman Schultz accuses Republican leader of a "double standard"

(CNN) -- The heads of both major political parties battled Sunday over the handling of Rep. Anthony Weiner's scandal, with the Republican Party boss accusing Democrats of inaction and the Democratic Party leader accusing Republicans of a "double standard."

In a heated debate on NBC's "Meet the Press," Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said that "for the first 10 days" of the scandal, "the only job (House Minority Leader) Nancy Pelosi was interested in saving was Anthony Weiner's." Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz fired back that Priebus' argument failed "the straight-face test."

The debate came the same day that TMZ published photos of Weiner, in various states of undress, which he apparently took of himself in a locker room. TMZ reported that they were taken in the House members' gym and sent to at least one woman. Weiner's office declined to comment on the photos, and CNN could not confirm the details reported by TMZ.

See photos at TMZ.com

After apologizing last week, Weiner said he had exchanged "messages and photos of explicit nature with about six women in the last three years," communicating with them online and, occasionally, on the phone.

Wasserman Schultz issued a statement Saturday calling for Weiner's resignation. Pelosi also called for him to step down Saturday.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer said Sunday that Weiner should consider resigning. "I think that certainly he has to consider that option," Hoyer said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "I don't see how he can proceed and effectively represent his constituency."

In the interview on "Meet the Press," Wasserman Schultz was asked why she called for Weiner's resignation at this point in the so-called "sexting" scandal. She said Democrats had been giving Weiner "some breathing room to be able to be circumspect, do the right thing, make a decision, reach the conclusion that he needed to step back, and step down on his own." When he had not done so by Saturday, "it was important to weigh in," she said.

Priebus said "it's a question of leadership." Weiner "turned this town and this country into a three-ring circus," Priebus said.

"We've got leadership and a Democratic Party that are defending a guy that deserves no defense."

Wasserman Schultz said Priebus' argument "doesn't pass the straight-face test from a chair of a party none of whose leaders called for Senator Vitter, who actually broke the law, to resign, who is still serving (in) office." Sen. David Vitter, R-Louisiana, admitted in 2007 to "a very serious sin" after he was linked to a prostitution scandal.

Wasserman Schultz also cited former Sen. John Ensign, R-Nevada, who had an extramarital affair with a staffer's wife and later resigned. "You never called for his resignation, so it's a double standard and it's unacceptable," she said.

When asked about those situations, Priebus responded he was "not defending these guys," and turned the discussion to the economy and President Barack Obama's policies.

Wasserman Schultz said she spoke briefly with Weiner. She described him as "incredibly apologetic" and "devastated" about the conduct he has been engaged in.

Weiner's spokeswoman said Saturday that the congressman is seeking treatment "to focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person." He will take a "short leave of absence," Risa Heller said in a statement.

Wasserman Schultz said a leave of absence is not enough. A party cannot force a lawmaker to leave, however. "A member of Congress makes his own decision, and that's certainly going to be up to Anthony Weiner, but we have made it clear that he needs to resign," she said.

Speaking to the media on Saturday, Weiner said he has "made some serious mistakes and I'm trying to redeem myself," adding that his "remarkable" wife -- Huma Abedin, a senior aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- is doing well.

A Democratic source familiar with conversations among Weiner and Democratic leadership said the congressman does not want to make a decision on his future in Congress until Abedin returns from a trip with Clinton in Africa. She is scheduled to return Thursday.

Meanwhile, authorities in Delaware have closed an investigation into contact between Weiner and a teenager in the state.

C.R. McLeod, spokesman for the New Castle County government, told CNN on Sunday that the police concluded their investigation Friday "and at this point they won't have anything else to pursue unless further evidence comes to their attention."

In a statement Friday, New Castle County Police said detectives had "conducted an interview with the teen and she has made no disclosure of criminal activity nor inappropriate contact by the congressman."

Weiner told reporters the contact involved "nothing explicit, nothing indecent. Absolutely nothing inappropriate."

An attorney representing the teen's family said in a statement Sunday that the 17-year-old had Twitter contact with Weiner, and that the tweets "were not salacious or in any manner inappropriate." No photographs were ever sent to her, the statement said.

CNN

Turkey's state TV: Ruling party wins election (AP)

ISTANBUL – Turkey's state-run television says the ruling party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won a third term in parliamentary elections.

The website of the television station, TRT, is carrying a headline that says: "Turkey decides to continue with AK Party."

AKP is the Turkish acronym of the ruling Justice and Development Party.

State TV says that with 98 percent of the results counted Sunday, the ruling party has 50 percent of the votes. The Republican People's Party, the main opposition group, has 26 percent and another opposition party, the Nationalist Action Party, has 13 percent.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey's ruling party led by a wide margin in nearly complete returns from parliamentary elections on Sunday, state-run television reported, setting the stage for a third term in which the government is expected to seek an overhaul of the military-era constitution.

However, results indicated that the Justice and Development Party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was not heading for a two-thirds majority in parliament, a shortcoming that would force it to seek support for constitutional change from other political groups.

With 97 percent of votes counted, Erdogan's party had won 50 percent of the votes, TRT reported. It said the Republican People's Party, the main opposition group, had 26 percent of the vote.

TRT said another opposition party, the Nationalist Action Party, had 13 percent of the vote, signaling it could stay in parliament by crossing a 10 percent vote threshold designed to keep out smaller parties.

According to the tally, the ruling party stood to win 327 seats in the 550-seat parliament, a comfortable majority that would ensure the continuation of its single-party rule. It had 331 seats in the outgoing parliament. Lawmakers serve four-year terms.

Several thousand supporters gathered Sunday night outside the ruling party headquarters in Ankara, chanting pro-government slogans and waving Turkish flags as they awaited Erdogan, who has made it a tradition to deliver a victory speech from the building's balcony.

About 50 million Turks, or two-thirds of the population, were eligible to vote.

For the first time, voters cast ballots in transparent plastic boxes in which the yellow envelopes could be seen piling up. The measure was designed to prevent any allegations of fraud. In past elections, wooden boxes were used.

"We have spoken, and now it is time for the people to speak," Erdogan said at a polling station Sunday morning in Istanbul. "For us, this will be the most honorable decision and one that we will have to respect. As far as I know, the election process is continuing through the country without any problems."

The Anatolia news agency reported later that police detained 34 people in the southeast province of Batman for allegedly trying to coerce people into voting for the Peace and Democracy Party, a Kurdish party accused by officials of links to Kurdish rebels.

The party is fielding independent candidates in order to work around the 10 percent vote threshold for Turkey's parliament. It seeks more rights and autonomy in the southeastern strongholds of the ethnic minority, which makes up about 20 percent of Turkey's 74 million people.

Turkey, a NATO ally with a mostly Muslim population, stands out in a region buffeted by popular uprisings as a rising power with traditional Western alliances as well as growing ties in the east and elsewhere. In the past decade, the government has sharply reduced the political clout of the military, and taken some steps to ease restrictions on minorities, though reforms have slowed in recent years.

Despite its successes, Turkey's government faces opposition accusations that it seeks to consolidate power at the expense of consensus-building.

Erdogan has promised that a new constitution would include "basic rights and freedoms," replacing a constitution implemented under the tutelage of the military in 1982. However, he has provided relatively few details on a possible new draft.

The government has Islamic roots, long a source of suspicion among secular circles that once dominated Turkey and fear that Erdogan seeks to impose religion on society.

Turkey's leaders, however, describe themselves as moderates and "conservative democrats" who are committed to the ideals of Western-style democracy. After winning election in 2002, they implemented economic reforms that pulled the country out of crisis. The growth rate last year was nearly 9 percent, the second highest among G-20 nations after China.

Still, political reforms faltered in the ruling party's second term. Turkey's bid to join the European Union has stalled, partly because of opposition in key EU nations such as Germany and France. Critics point to concerns about media freedom and the Turkish government's plans for Internet filters as signs of intolerance toward views that don't conform to those of Turkey's leadership.

Four people were detained Sunday in the southeast province of Sanliurfa for allegedly voting more than once with other people's ballot papers. In the capital, Ankara, police fired in the air and used pepper spray to break up scuffles at a polling station where a group of voters wrongly accused another group of having fake ballot papers, the Anatolia agency said.

But for all of Turkey's challenges, Sunday's vote was an indicator of stability in a country that suffered fractious coalition politics and military coups in past decades. Most voting was peaceful and orderly, with large crowds gathering early to cast ballots.

"We have come to the end of a long marathon," Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the opposition Republican People's Party, said after arriving at a polling station with his wife and son. "Today is the time for a decision by the people. We will respect their decision. There is a good mood. There is a democracy feast."

___

Suzan Fraser and Gulden Alp contributed from Ankara, Turkey.

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Gbagbo party to shun Ivory Coast government (Reuters)

ABIDJAN (Reuters) – Ivory Coast's former ruling party acknowledged on Wednesday that President Alassane Ouattara had won November's disputed election, but said it would not join a unity government until ex-president Laurent Gbagbo was freed.

The party's interim president, Mamadou Koulibaly, was speaking to journalists after a five-hour closed-door meeting of members of Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) in Abidjan.

"The FPI is in no hurry to go there (to a unity government). It can be formed without us and then, when our conditions are met, we will be ready," Koulibaly said. "Conditions of security, of the release of our comrades, must be met, say our activists. Then can we seriously consider joining the government."

Gbagbo's refusal to step down, despite U.N.-certified results showing Ouattara had won the election, triggered a violent standoff culminating in French and U.N. forces bombing Gbagbo's compound, enabling pro-Ouattara troops to seize him.

Ouattara's offer of a unity government is partly aimed at starting a process of national reconciliation after a decade of war, instability, and ethnic division.

But Koulibaly told Radio France International on Tuesday that a "unity government is not necessarily the answer."

"The RHDP (Ouattara's party) won this election against our party, which was in power for 10 years. The RHDP is in power and it can go ahead and create its government, our comrades say," Koulibaly told the journalists on Wednesday.

GBAGBO IN DETENTION

Gbagbo is being held in the north, and Ouattara is unlikely to agree to release him or his top aides. Ouattara wants Gbagbo tried for alleged crimes against humanity committed in the aftermath of his refusal to quit.

His party leader, Pascal Affi N'Guessan, and his deputy, Simone Gbagbo, wife of former president Laurent Gbagbo, are also both under arrest.

Around 3,000 people were killed during the conflict in the world's top cocoa producer and a million more fled their homes in the main city Abidjan alone.

Amnesty International said on Wednesday that forces loyal to both Gbagbo and Ouattara had committed war crimes: [ID:nLDE74N2AR]

"Hundreds of people have been unlawfully killed, often only on the grounds of their ethnicity and presumed political affiliation. Women and adolescents have been victims of sexual violence, including rape, and hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes."

Ouattara now faces the tough task of balancing reconciliation with justice for those responsible for the most serious crimes.

Ouattara has asked the International Criminal Court to investigate the most serious allegations on both sides, which include mass killings, rape, kidnap and executions.

But he also wants a South African-style national truth and reconciliation commission.

"We talk about national reconciliation and truth, but at the same time we talk about justice. Our activists questioned whether it will be real justice or the justice of revenge," Koulibaly said.

(Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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New Liberal leader Bob Rae says party here to stay (Reuters)

OTTAWA (Reuters) – The new interim leader of Canada's beleaguered Liberal Party, Bob Rae, said on Wednesday the Liberals would pick themselves up from their disastrous electoral showing and rebuild.

The Liberals, who governed Canada for 70 years in the last century, were reduced to third-party status in the May 2 election, which was won by the Conservatives. As a result, some members have wondered if it is time to pack it in and merge with the left-of-center New Democrats.

But Rae, picked by the Liberal caucus on Wednesday to head the party until the membership chooses a permanent leader, said the Liberal Party will triumph again.

"I can assure you that the Liberal Party has a future that is every bit as promising and great as our past achievements have been," he told reporters after taking the helm.

"I have no hesitation in saying that the Liberal Party is here to stay. We're here to fight for the things that Canadians believe in."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was able to convert his minority Conservative government into a majority government on May 2 partly because the Liberals split the center-left vote with the New Democrats, who overtook them as the biggest opposition party.

The Liberals were reduced to 34 seats -- smaller even than the new Conservative government's cabinet -- out of the 308 in the House of Commons. The party had 77 seats before the election.

Rae served as premier of Ontario, as head of the provincial New Democrats, from 1990 to 1995, during which time he raised taxes and forced unpaid furloughs on public workers in an effort to contain budget deficits. He later joined the Liberals.

(Reporting by Randall Palmer; editing by Peter Galloway)

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Gains of True Finn party point to 'Euroskeptic' surge in Finland (The Christian Science Monitor)

Helsinki, Finland – Some call it a political earthquake that, in a single election, reshaped the landscape of Finland and put the European Union on notice that its days may be numbered.

A country of 5.3 million people tucked into Europe's forested northeast corner, Finland has been thought of as a well-adjusted EU member. But leaders of the insurgent True Finn party, which rocketed out of obscurity to win third place in parliamentary polls last month, say 16 years of membership in the "United States of Europe" has allowed Brussels bureaucrats to usurp Finnish sovereignty.

"Finns have been tolerant for too long, and now they've had enough," says True Finn party secretary Ossi Sandvik. "Finns don't go into the streets; they express their frustrations at the ballot box. Now the people have spoken, and changes must follow."

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The True Finns blend nationalism and social conservatism with a left-wing populism that defies easy categorization. Tea party­ers might nod approvingly at some items in the True Finn charter, which identifies Christianity as a hallmark of Fin­nish­ness and rails against free immigration, easy abortion, same-sex marriage, and the "Islamization" of Europe.

One in 5 Finnish voters backed the True Finns and their charismatic leader, Timo Soini, reacting mainly against the rising cost of bailing out crisis-hit eurozone members like Greece and Portugal. But other resentments also emerged, including some Finns' anger over the influx of outsiders under the EU's open-border system and the consequent erosion of what True Finn leaders call "Finnish values." At the very least, the True Finns, which opted to go into opposition after other major parties backed the Portugal bailout, have brought "euroskepticism" roaring into the political mainstream.

Since Finland is the only EU country that requires parliamentary approval for participation in bailouts, and any such EU decision must be unanimous, the sudden surge of the True Finns is giving EU boosters a major headache and may have thrown Finland's support for future rescue packages into doubt.

"Greece and Port­ugal have been wasteful and dishonest, and Finns resent these demands to give them more money," says Simon Elo, head of the True Finns youth movement, which has been inundated with applications to join since the election success.

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He says the party, which made opposition to the Portugal bailout the centerpiece of its campaign, expects to be proved right in the long run. "We don't want people to say, 'Finland was to blame for bringing down the euro....' Anyway, we believe the [eurozone] system will collapse by itself, and our duty is to prepare Finland for life after the euro. Eventually, we want to take Finland out of the European Union."

Finland, once one of Europe's poorest countries, has fared well since the collapse of the USSR 20 years ago freed it from the tough strictures imposed on it by Moscow after World War II. After joining the EU in 1995, Finland's exports of electronics, forest products, and high tech took off. But the global economic crisis hit hard, punishing many small industrial towns and leaving lingering unemployment that's still more than 8 percent.

"The eurozone crisis came like a wake-up call for the populist movement," says Tapani Makinen, editor of the pro-European Helsinki newsweekly Nykypaiva. "We have an export-based economy, and the euro has provided stability. But our economy is small, and it's extremely vulnerable to shocks. Many structural changes are happening as a result of the crisis; people feel that normal life is threatened, that danger is just around the corner."

While US conservatives might find common cause with the True Finns, they would recoil at demands for a stronger social safety net and government regulation to equalize incomes of rich and poor.

"People have been divided into haves and have-nots, and we are the party of the have-nots," says Mr. Sandvik. "The right to a socially just life, determined by good values, belongs to every Finn."

The recipe combining left and right agendas is shared by a few other Nordic populist movements, including the Danish People's Party, which won nearly 14 percent of the vote in 2007 elections by tapping into an anti-immigrant backlash while backing the country's generous welfare system.

But across most of the Continent, rising euroskeptic parties generally combine a xenophobic message with contempt for the welfare state. There's Geert Wilders's Party of Freedom in The Netherlands, France's surging National Front led by Marine Le Pen, and Italy's regionalist Northern League.

The True Finns say they have little interest in the wider picture, only in restoring Finland's independence. "After all, empires always end badly, as did Rome and the USSR," says Mr. Elo. "That will happen to the EU as well, because it's a misguided piece of history."

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Government-Financed Boston Tea Party Museum Skyrockets in Cost

AP

Shown in this Oct. 9, 2010, photo is the Fort Point Channel harborwalk by the Boston Harbor.

A new museum meant to honor the original Boston Tea Partiers is drawing scrutiny from the new wave of anti-tax activists, after the government-financed project skyrocketed in price. 

The Boston Herald reports that the projected cost of the museum has gone from $9 million in 2006 to more than $27 million. The museum is privately owned, but it's getting an $18 million low-interest loan from the semi-public Massachusetts Convention Center Authority and another $3 million grant from the Boston Redevelopment Authority. 

Though the rest will be fronted by the private company, the public assistance has raised questions among modern Tea Party activists. 

"The government shouldn't be involved in something like this," Christen Varley, with the Greater Boston Tea Party, told the Herald, while praising the project itself. 

But an official with the owner of the site said the project will be "good for the city." 

The old museum reportedly was shut down a decade ago after it was hit by lightning. The projected cost of a new museum rose, though, after a fire in 2007, the Herald reported. Then the credit crisis, and the fact that the owners wanted to build a giant, floating barge, made costs climb even more. 

Click here to read the story on the Tea Party Museum in the Boston Herald.

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Congresswoman Feigns Southern Accent to Deride Tea Party Lawmakers

Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif. , speaks to supporters on Friday, Oct. 15, 2010, outside the Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP)

A Democratic congresswoman, frustrated with her interactions with a new class of Tea Party-backed conservative lawmakers, mocked them this week by talking in a Southern accent and referring to them as "Moe," during an interview on nationally syndicated radio show.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., told liberal host Stephanie Miller that every time she tries approaching one of the 87 freshman lawmakers in an effort to build relationships, they're always complaining about something being unconstitutional.

"Everything to them is unconstitutional," she said. "It's unconstitutional, it's unconstitutional, it's unconstitutional."

Miller said she doesn't know how Sanchez starts a conversation with some of them.

"Sanchez, can I see your papers? I don't believe you're a congresswoman. Let's see your birth certificate," she said.

The congresswoman, who represents Anaheim and other parts of Orange County, laughed and said she knows how to get along with people. Then she used a mock Southern accent to describe how conversations with them play out.

"Hey what's your name? 'My name is M-o-e,'" Sanchez said, feigning a Southern drawl that drew howls of laughter from Miller and her co-host. "Ok Moe. Moe-ster, how you doing baby? What are we going to do today? What's your interest? What can we work on together?"

"'Well, it's unconstitutional," she said, using her faux Southern accent.

Sanchez's spokeswoman did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

This isn't the first time Sanchez has played identity politics. During her re-election campaign last fall against Vietnamese challenger Van Tran, she came under heavy criticism for telling a Spanish-language TV station that the "Vietnamese" were trying to take her seat.

"The Vietnamese and the Republicans are, with an intensity, trying to take away this seat -- this seat that we have done so much for our community

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Tea Party Rally Calls for Budget Cuts

April 15: Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty speaks to a crowd at a Tea Party rally at the Statehouse, in Concord, N.H. (AP)

It’s never too early for presidential politics in New Hampshire. And in this first-primary-in-the-nation state, it almost seemed as if the campaign kicked off Friday.

Four prospective Republican candidates appeared together at a Tax Day-Tea Party rally, calling for lower taxes and major cuts in federal spending. Several hundred attended the event, held on the front lawn of the historic statehouse in the crisp New England sun, and sponsored by the group, Americans For Prosperity.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former U.S. Sen. for Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum, ex-Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer, and businessman Herman Cain, one-time head of Godfather’s Pizza, all attended and spoke.

The potential political rivals sounded a common theme: the federal government budget needs to be deeply trimmed, and taxes cut, to restore the nation's economic vitality.

"Valley Forge wasn't easy. Settling the West wasn't easy. Winning World War II wasn't easy," declared Pawlenty. "Thank you for being part of the Tea Party and let's take back this nation."

He asked the crowd "have you had enough of big government and big unions and big bail out businesses scratching each others back asking you to get your wallet out to pay for their recklessness and stupidity?," to which the attendees shouted "yes!"

"It takes a real re-awakening, it takes a Tea Party in generations, to re-establish those burning founding principles that made America that shining city on the hill," proclaimed Santorum, "What's at stake right now is a group of people who want you to believe that you need them, that you need to be taken care of, that you need to be provided for....the battle for freedom, fundamentally in America, is right here."

"We have a tax code that is 4,000 pages long and you can't read it," Roemer told the crowd. "We have a debt for the rest of our lives...We spend $300 billion a month and borrow $120 billion from our competitors. The game is rigged...the American Revolution was about a Tea Party, taxation without representation. I think it's time for a second revolution."

In a rousing address reminiscent of a preacher, Herman Cain said "stupid people are ruining this country

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Party Leaders Look to Center for Budget Support as Liberals, Conservatives Balk

AP

Shown here are Rep. Anthony Weiner, left, Rep. Michele Bachmann, center, and Sen. Rand Paul.

President Obama and congressional leaders are going to have to rely on the political center to pass their 2011 budget bill as Tea Party conservatives and dyed-in-the-wool liberals start to peel off. 

The text of that bill, released Tuesday morning, had a little bit for everyone -- cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and the elimination of some presidential "czars" for Republicans; protection of education programs like Head Start and Pell grants for Democrats.

But the bill also left a lot out. For starters, it only cut $38.5 billion, including about $12 billion in cuts that were already signed into law -- not enough for some Republicans, particularly freshmen who wanted their first big budget clash to result in seismic, not just historic, cuts. On the Democratic side, the fact some programs for the poor were not spared was a moral outrage. 

The mounting discontent means dozens of lawmakers from both parties will likely take a stand against the budget bill when it comes for a floor vote later in the week, presumably before the current stopgap budget expires. It may not be enough to derail the hard-fought deal, but their objections challenge the narrative that congressional leaders achieved a masterstroke with their 11th-hour, shutdown-averting compromise. 

"I'll probably vote against it if the cuts are as draconian as they have been," Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., told Fox News. She was among a half-dozen members of Congress who protested the cuts Monday in New York City, claiming they would slash funding to low-income aid programs ranging from Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to Community Development Block Grants. 

Joining her were Reps. Jerrold Nadler, Charles Rangel, Eliot Engel, Anthony Weiner and Nydia Velazquez. Most of them voted against the stopgap budget early Saturday morning. The bill passed overwhelmingly on a 348-70 vote in the House, with more Democrats opposing it than Republicans. 

As the details of the broader plan were released Tuesday, even high-ranking Democrats were keeping their opinions close to the vest.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the Democrats' top vote counter in the House, said he's not yet sure whether he will support the bill. "There are a number of things I don't like," Hoyer said.

Hoyer said he does not know whether Republicans will ask him for help rounding up Democratic votes for the bill -- the GOP can only afford to lose 27 members before needing help from the other side to pass it. 

"My presumption is we don't know where our people are, and I don't think they know where their people are," Hoyer said.

But harder-line lawmakers from both parties are starting to generate clatter against the compromise ahead of a final vote. 

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, announced Tuesday that he would oppose the final package. 

"While I respect that some of my Republican colleagues will ultimately support this spending deal, I believe voters are asking us to set our sights higher," he said in a statement. 

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., also wrote in a letter to colleagues that he would vote "a resounding NO" on the deal, and urged others to join him. 

"The much-ballyhooed 2011 continuing resolution will leave the federal government spending $1.6 trillion more than it takes in," he wrote. "The only 'good news' from the 2011 CR would be that it adds less debt than President Obama's plan, but it does not appreciably change the accumulation of debt." 

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., has also expressed disappointment in the plan, saying it didn't cut enough and lamenting that it carved out provisions to defund Planned Parenthood and the federal health care overhaul. 

Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., the champion of the Planned Parenthood measure, said in an interview over the weekend that while he appreciates the work House Speaker John Boehner did on behalf of his caucus at the negotiating table, the compromise is "probably not good enough" to win his vote. 

GOP leaders, though, claim they got the best deal they could for their side. Boehner and others have noted he was the sole GOP negotiator at a table full of Democrats and describe the compromise as a substantive first step toward bigger budget reforms. 

Both parties already are gearing up for a fight over raising the debt ceiling and, connected to that, the 2012 budget and entitlement reforms. Obama plans to outline a new deficit-reduction strategy Wednesday as he looks to haggle with Republicans who have proposed a sweeping plan which would overhaul Medicare while cutting trillions over the next decade. 

With that as the backdrop, party leaders are urging their rank-and-file to clear away the 2011 budget battle and move on to the next one. 

"There are going to be dozens of these battles over the next 18 months," Boehner told Fox News on Monday. "We just have been through the first one. We're about to engage in the second one. But this is going to go on and on and on." 

The final 2011 budget bill includes a provision preventing Guantanamo prisoners from being transferred to the U.S., as well as a provision restricting taxpayer funding for abortion in the District of Columbia. 

It reduces the military budget by $2 billion more than Defense Secretary Robert Gates said was an acceptable level, but strips out related earmarks and eliminates the controversial backup engine for the F-35 fighter jet. 

Other areas of the budget took a considerable hit. The EPA endured a 16 percent decrease, losing $1.6 billion from its budget. Transportation and housing budgets took an 18 percent budget cut compared with last year's levels. The bill would end funding for more than 55 programs, according to the House Appropriations Committee, extracting about $1 billion in savings. Plus the final bill would end funding for two programs in the health care overhaul and reduce the legislative branch budget by over $100 million. That includes a 5 percent cut to most House offices.

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Tea Party, Conservatives Conflicted Over Budget Deal

AP

Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., addresses an Americans for Prosperity rally on Capitol Hill April 6.

Though the eleventh-hour budget deal brokered after days of intensive negotiations was widely seen as a win for Republicans, Tea Party activists and the lawmakers aligned with them are divided over whether to support it. 

Conservatives for months have been pushing for $61 billion in cuts. What they got was $38.5 billion, as well as a handful of policy riders and other sweeteners. While Democrats met Republicans more than halfway on that deal, some prominent conservative groups and lawmakers say they're still not happy. 

"I think John Boehner got a good deal, but it's probably not good enough for me to support it," Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., said in an interview Sunday. 

Pence, who increasingly has aligned himself with the Tea Party movement, staked out a nuanced position. He credited the House speaker for taking on the White House and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in head-to-head negotiations, but, while he supported a bridge bill to keep the government running through Thursday, claimed he would vote against the final package. 

Others have been less equivocal. 

"In the seven days preceding last night's deal, our nation's debt increased by $54.1 billion. And now our 'leaders' are touting as 'historic' the $38.5 billion in spending cuts for the rest of fiscal year 2011," Tea Party Patriots co-founder Mark Meckler said in a written statement Saturday. "Leadership requires bold, visionary action in times of crisis. Are we getting bold, visionary leadership in Washington, D.C.? We think the numbers speak for themselves." 

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, voted against the bridge bill and said he could not back the final budget deal either. 

"I can't support this," Chaffetz told Fox Business Network shortly after the deal was announced. "We have a multitrillion-dollar problem here. And I feel disappointed we came up a little bit short." 

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., also voted against the bridge bill, saying members of Congress have "been asked to settle for $39 billion in cuts, even as we continue to fund Planned Parenthood and the implementation of ObamaCare." 

The roll call on the stopgap bill, though, suggests conservative discontent will not unravel the hard-fought deal. That bill passed overwhelmingly on a 348-70 vote early Saturday morning, with far more Democrats opposing the bill than Republicans. 

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who spoke alongside Pence on ABC's "This Week," predicted the budget bill funding the government for the rest of the year would pass when it comes to the floor later in the week. 

Van Hollen said he was still reserving judgment on the bill until more details are released. 

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., also said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that specific details won't be published until Monday and that lawmakers have agreed to stay mum until then. Offering brushstrokes of the deal, Schumer played up the good news for Democrats, noting that the defense budget will share in the cuts, while areas like the Head Start program for low-income children will be spared. 

Lawmakers and their aides are working overtime to prep the bill for a floor vote in the next few days. One Republican aide said it would be a "Herculean task" to pump out the language. 

While the White House and congressional Democrats found solace in the fact that some favored programs were spared from what they once described as "draconian" cuts, several concessions in the final compromise were clearly in Republicans' favor. 

They won riders reviving the District of Columbia's school voucher program while banning the city from directing taxpayer money toward abortions. While votes on banning funds for Planned Parenthood and for the Democrats' health care overhaul were barred from the main bill, Republicans were promised separate votes in the Senate on those issues. 

For the most part, conservatives were counting the compromise as a win. 

"We all would like to have deeper cuts," said Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill. "That said, I think Speaker Boehner fought hard. I think he went to battle. ... I think this was a very good deal." 

FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe said the Tea Party has "redefined" the debate in Washington. 

"In that context, the deal was a good victory," he told Fox News. "Do we have a lot more to do? Is it just a small percentage of the solution we need to find? Absolutely. But the fact that now Harry Reid, President Obama, Republicans from the leadership are all debating the issue in our terms, this is a good step in the right direction."

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Schumer Stands by Description of Tea Party as 'Extreme' After Hot Mic Moment

AP

Sen. Charles Schumer speaks to reporters about budget negotiations March 2 on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer on Sunday stood by his characterization of the Tea Party movement as "extreme" -- though he was overheard on a conference call last week describing the term as a political talking point. 

The New York senator, speaking on ABC's "This Week," reiterated his claim that the Tea Party is "standing in the way" of a compromise between Republicans and Democrats over a budget for the remainder of the fiscal year. 

"The American people are seeing the Tea Party for what it is -- extreme," Schumer said. 

He was then asked about an incident last week when, before a conference call with reporters was set to start, he was overhead telling others on the call that he uses the word "extreme" because "that's what the caucus instructed me to do the other week." 

Schumer said he has no regrets. 

"I have no problem with reporters hearing that," Schumer said. "The Tea Party is the group standing in the way. ... I believe they're extreme." 

Sen. Jeff Sessions, though, decried Democrats' persistent use of the word to describe those rallying for deep spending cuts. 

"It's absolutely false," Sessions, R-Ala., said. "Millions of Americans participate in the Tea Party. Tens of millions support and believe what they're saying. And they are right fundamentally. Maybe they don't understand all the realities of Washington politics, but fundamentally, they know this country is on a path to fiscal disaster." 

He said Democrats should not "attack" the people trying to put the country on a stable fiscal course.

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Tea Party Gets Early Start on Shaping 2012 Elections

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Sen. Jim DeMint, at podium, addresses a Tea Party rally March 31 on Capitol Hill.

The Tea Party doesn't want to be a one-election pony, and is starting early to make sure candidates heed their call for budget cuts and limited government ahead of the 2012 election. 

One faction of that movement, the Tea Party Patriots, held a small but vocal rally Thursday on Capitol Hill to pressure Congress to hold down spending for the rest of the year. The rally of about 100 people was a rather mild reminder of the Tea Party's might. Elsewhere, the strategists behind the multi-headed movement are plotting once again to make waves in the primaries and general election. 

With the budget debate in full swing, they warn that any Republicans failing to live up to their vows to cut spending could face a challenge in the primary season. But as in 2010, different groups have wildly different goals. 

Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips has been threatening to put somebody up against House Speaker John Boehner, griping that he's not done enough to get control of the debt. 

But over at Tea Party Express, Boehner is not considered a problem. 

Sal Russo, chief strategist with the group, said Tea Party Express so far has four targets, two from each party -- Democratic Sens. Ben Nelson in Nebraska and Debbie Stabenow in Michigan, and Republican Sens. Richard Lugar in Indiana and Olympia Snowe in Maine, both moderates. 

He said the group has been meeting with possible Senate challengers in those races since the beginning of the year, and has made some decisions about endorsements, though he declined to reveal them. 

He said that during the primaries, the group will look to galvanize fundraising for favored candidates and get supporters across the country to work the phones in key races. He said Tea Party Express would also run ads in the general election, with the ultimate goal of winning for Republicans a 60-seat, filibuster-proof majority -- something Democrats are determined to not let happen. Russo said the organization is waiting for redistricting before it starts strategizing at the House level, since districts could change, in turn affecting the vulnerability or strength of candidates. 

"Somebody may be vulnerable today, but when the map gets drawn, they may be in a safe district," Russo said. 

New for the Tea Party this cycle will be the chance to have an impact on the presidential race. Tea Party Express plans to invite presidential candidates to speak at stops on its planned bus tour later this year, and will co-host a presidential primary debate in the fall. 

The Tea Party already is part of the presidential primary trail. 

The Boston Herald reported that former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who recently launched his exploratory committee, plans to speak to the Boston Tea Party during its April 15 Tax Day rally. 

While candidates and Tea Partiers work through the awkward getting-to-know-you phase, Tea Party leaders are sending out a stern warning to incumbents. 

"If they don't cut the spending that they promised to cut, we're going to get back in 2012 and we are going to get them out of there," Ana Puig, with the Pennsylvania-based Kitchen Table Patriots, told Fox News. 

The Tea Party Patriots' Jenny Beth Martin also told Fox News that some members will "probably be primaried" if they don't live up to expectations. 

"We're going to have an impact in this debate, we're going to have an impact when it comes to the budget in 2012 and we're also going to have an impact in the debt ceiling and next year's elections," she said. "We're not going away. We're here. We're going to be vigilant." 

As Democrats openly spoil for a fight with the Tea Party by labeling their views "extreme," Republicans on the Hill continue to pay deference to the movement, in a sign of its importance in 2012. 

Boehner, who blames Democrats for the lack of progress on the budget, said lawmakers should "welcome" the input from people like those protesting on Capitol Hill Thursday. "I'm glad that they're engaged in the process," he said. 

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a freshman senator elected with help from Tea Partiers in his state, warned lawmakers not to push their buttons. 

"A lot of these people have found their expression in the Tea Party movement. I think that's a positive development in American politics, and I think our leaders should not be criticizing everyday Americans who decide to express themselves through the political process," Rubio told Fox News. 

Recent polls have suggested enthusiasm for the Tea Party might be waning, at least in the drought period between elections. A CNN/Opinion Research poll out Wednesday showed about half of those surveyed having an unfavorable view of the movement, apparently the first time that number has been as high as it is for Democrats and Republicans. 

But Russo said he expects the movement to "grow" as the campaigns get underway. 

"I think we're in that frustration period among those that think the 2010 elections were determinative," he said. "We got one-half of one-third of the government. It was a first step." 

FoxNews.com's Judson Berger and Fox News' John Brandt contributed to this report.

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Schumer: Tea Party GOP's proposed cuts are 'extreme'

By J. Scott Applewhite, AP

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., says House Speaker John Boehner has caved to the Tea Party.

EnlargeCloseBy J. Scott Applewhite, AP

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., says House Speaker John Boehner has caved to the Tea Party.

As Congress tries to pass a spending plan before April 8, the date of a possible government shutdown, Democrats repeatedly blamed their inability to reach a compromise on House Speaker John Boehner by saying he is caving to the Tea Party members of his Republican Party.

Earlier Tuesday, New York's Schumer said Tea Party representatives were "breathing down the back" of Boehner. After the discussion with Schumer, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said the "relatively small, extreme group of ideologues" was an anchor around the neck of the negotiations.

TEA PARTY: Group revs it up with NASCARBoehner's office dismissed the accusations, saying the House of Representatives has done its part by passing a long-term spending plan that would cut $61 billion. "The Senate has not — and Sen. Schumer's inaccurate rants won't change that," Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said.

The back-and-forth raised the question of how influential the Tea Party movement has become in Washington, and whether the group — largely composed of GOP freshmen who rode into power in the House in the 2010 elections — was really to blame.

The group unquestionably had an impact early on, said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican who sits on the House Appropriations Committee and is not affiliated with the Tea Party.

Proposals by the House leadership for a budget to cut $30 billion in spending was rejected by members affiliated with the Tea Party, resulting in a bill that would cut $61 billion. Diaz-Balart rejected the idea that those discussions created any animosity within the GOP.

"It's majority rule here. But there was no big discrepancy or battle here," he said. "It was, 'All right, good point, let's redo it,' and we regrouped and we did."

Even though there are no Tea Party-supported candidates in House leadership, and only a couple of members of the House Appropriations Committee received strong Tea Party support, GOP Rep. Tom Price said they have influenced the budget in other ways.

"What they're doing is focusing our attention on that which is the No. 1 issue in the land, and that is spending and the economy and jobs," said Price, a Tea Party favorite from Georgia.

Chris Chocola, former GOP congressman and president of the anti-tax group Club for Growth, said it makes sense for freshmen GOP members of Congress to hold firm on larger spending cuts, because there is little to gain by caving to Democratic demands.

Rep. Steve King, an Iowa Republican embraced by the Tea Party, said Democrats are trying to drive a wedge in the GOP by highlighting the influence of the Tea Party while also demonizing the group ahead of the 2012 elections.

Democrats say they're simply trying to avoid a shutdown. "A Tea Party rebellion may hurt the Republican Party politically, but a shutdown will hurt Americans, all Americans, much more," Schumer said Tuesday on the Senate floor. "Mr. Speaker, it's time to forget the Tea Party and take the deal."

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